The Nature One Dairy products, for newborns to infants up to age three, cost between S$25.50 and S$29.50 for a 900g tin — about half that of similar products from premium brands, which cost between S$50 and S$70.

Located in Melbourne, Nature One Dairy was founded by Singaporean Masie Ng-Dimopoulos and her Australian husband Nick Dimopoulos, who is a Singapore permanent resident.

The cost of formula milk made headlines in May when Singapore’s competition watchdog released findings on the infant-formula market, and the Government said it wanted to put more brands on shelves here, as well as tackle unsubstantiated nutritional and health claims made by milk-formula producers. In June, supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice began offering a new range of infant-formula milk, Australia’s Own, that costs S$27.50 to S$35 for a 900g tin.

At the launch at Sheng Siong’s Tampines Central outlet on Thursday, Mr Dimopoulos said Nature One Dairy incurred lower import and distribution costs as a Singapore-owned company. Its prices are about 15 per cent higher in Sheng Siong stores than in Australian supermarkets.

Also at the event was Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Koh Poh Koon, who is leading a six-member taskforce looking into prices of formula milk.

In addition to increasing brand diversity on shelves, the taskforce is working with the Agri-food & Veterinary Authority to “streamline regulations” and “make necessary amendments” to the Sale of Food Act.

Labelling on milk tins will also be reassessed to ensure that they do not make false claims without a scientific basis. More plans will be shared in November and December, said Dr Koh.

“All the products in Singapore meet our safety requirements, so parents should be assured that price is not a marker for quality. Consumers should look at the nutritional contents and the needs of the babies,” he added.

Consumer Felicia Loe, who has an 11-month-old son, said she did not see a notable difference in nutritional content between Nature One Dairy and the brands she currently uses, such as Nan and Friso Gold.

“(Premium brands) do add up to a lot of money. I use a tin (which costs approximately S$50) a week, so I spend S$200 on milk formula every month. The bottom line is whether (my son) reacts to the formula,” said Ms Loe, 34.